Arizona Diamondbacks end Dontrelle Willis experiment

If Dontrelle Willis is going to find his old form that won him 20 games with the Florida Marlins, he's going to do it someplace other than Arizona.

After acquiring Willis from the Detroit Tigers, the Arizona Diamondbacks immediately put Willis in their starting rotation and he won his first start.

But Willis continued to show the wildness that plagued him throughout his career in Detroit, and he was recently demoted to the Diamondbacks bullpen.

Now he's been released according to ESPN and the Associated Press.

July 6, ESPN.com: The Diamondbacks acquired Willis from the Tigers on June 1 for right-hander Billy Buckner,
with Detroit picking up most of the pitcher's $12 million salary. In
six games with Arizona, five as a starter, Willis was 1-1 with a 6.85
ERA. He struck out 13 and walked 27 in 22 1/3 innings.

Recently
moved to the bullpen, his only appearance as a reliever was Saturday
night, when Willis gave up three runs on three hits in one inning of
Arizona's 14-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"He was a good soldier here, worked real hard, it just didn't work out," interim general manager Jerry DiPoto said.

"We gave him this opportunity in an effort to try to resurrect him,
to give him opportunity, and just catch lightning in a bottle," DiPoto
said. "After just talking to him, it didn't particularly work this time
around. Dontrelle's a wonderful human being. He works particularly
hard, brings a lot of energy to a club and for that reason it was a
little bit of a difficult decision."

Willis, who always was one of the National League's best hitting pitchers, may want to consider trying to become an outfielder, as former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel did after he lost his ability to find the strikezone as a pitcher.